Listening To Our "Inner Voice"

(Article courtesy of my clinic, Central Ohio Nutrition Center, Inc.)

What was the goal that you first set for yourself when you decided to lose weight? Were you inspired to make a change due to health concerns, or was there a personal situation that prompted you to want to make a change?

There are many benefits to keeping a journal during your weight loss process, but the weeks when you are preparing and just getting started with your weight loss plan are by far some of the best times to log your thoughts, worries and accomplishments. The voice of who you are at the beginning of this journey can be a helpful hand as you progress forward in your program, even if you find yourself to be a very different person by the end.

When you are trying to lose weight it is easy to get caught up in the noise and false promises for fast weight loss, and amidst all of these promises many people become discouraged and lose touch with their inner voice. Once you lose sight of yourself it is a short trip to losing sight of what you want and how badly you want it. To truly improve your health you need to focus on what is best for your mind, body and spirit. Increasing your self-awareness can improve your confidence, help you to de-stress and allow you to stay in touch with what truly matters to you.

Deciphering Inner Truths

Most of us have a few different voices sounding off inside our heads. There is the inner critic, who thinks that everything you do could be better, then there is the perpetual optimist who thinks your plan to dig a deep hole and sit in it until hardships pass overhead is actually a good idea. Many of us also have an inner pragmatist, pessimist and a fear-mongering, panic-stricken voice. Somewhere beneath these competing voices is your inner voice, screaming for you to stop listening to all of the external noise and do what you know is best.

These competing inner voices are never at greater odds than during the diet and weight management process. Discouragement is the first step towards breaking down barriers and letting bad habits slip in. A little bit of negativity tears through your willingness to resist dessert, breaks apart your motivation to get up and work out and questions your dedication to your weight loss program altogether.

These are thoughts that just about everyone who tries losing weight is bound to encounter. The scale might not budge much over the course of a week and you might begin questioning if the stress of losing weight is worth it, or if your medical weight loss program is working at all. After a bad day at work you might want to indulge in an old favorite comfort food, and you may even hear a voice inside your head making excuses for your behavior.

As you progress in your weight loss program, decipher which inner voices you plan on listening to and which ones aren’t doing you any good. Find yourself among those inner voices and stay in tune with what you want. Being conscious of who you are and what you want is one component of living a happy and healthy lifestyle.